Business strategic planning: A case study on Coffee and Cake

Introduction

Strategic planning of the organisation provides an opportunity to the corporate firms to analyse the external and internal environment of the business and evaluate the organisational resources and capabilities for developing effective strategies to meet the goal and objectives of the company (Wheelen et al., 2019). The aim of the study is to analyse the vision and mission of the comp-any Coffee ad Cake as well as analyse its strategic options through which the organisation can meet the corporate objectives of the firm. Through strategic planning, it is possible to meet the vision and mission of the firm and expand the business through developing organisational structure, enhancing performance of the firm and achieving sustainable growth in near future. Through this study, it is possible to analyse the strategic option for the company Coffee and Cake as well as develop an appropriate strategic planning through which the company Coffee and cake can achieve their corporate objective, mission and vision.

Background of the company

Coffee and Cake Ltd (CC Ltd) is a family owned business with 12 chain of coffee shop and a medium sized industrial bakery firm based in the West Midlands. The business has been established in 1997, by the two cousins named, Cheng Li and Khalid Khan. It is a private limited company and the partners are having 50% share of it. Steady growth of the business as well as profitability and sale volume of the company further influence the owners to develop appropriate strategic planning for meting it strategic objectives.

Organisational structure: Bakery production:

Bakery production manager 3 production bakers Cleaners 4 Bread bakers

Coffee shops:

Coffee shop manager 3 part time waitress staff Catering assistant Chef Cleaners

"A mission describes the organisation's basic function in society, in terms of the products and services it produces for its customers". (Mintzberg, 2018)

Advantages of Mission Statement

A Mission Statement of an organisation helps the business to make good decisions to be able to benefit the revenue stream. A Mission Statement allows the organisation to be in the right and appropriate direction to manage the business. Organisation can find it hard to plan the future of the business.

"Vision refers to the desired future state of the organisation: what it is trying to achieve in the future, and what it needs to be like in order to be successful in the future.

A clear Vision Statement allows the members of the organisation to work towards on the same understood goal and bring them together. Vision Statement can motivate and inspire the employees, they are ready to engage and commit in the organisation’s effort. A Vision Statement provides a foundation for future strategic planning efforts in all terms.

Objectives of an organisation are the plans or measurable targets of the business to achieve their aims.

Advantages of Corporate Objectives

Objectives can increase productivity by keeping employees on track and focus. When Organisation established specific objectives, the organisation is making a concentrated effort regarding both the long term and short-term planning of the business. When organisation measure and monitor their objectives in place, will enable them to be able to react to changes in the market industry and able to alter their operating plans where necessary.

• Mission statement:

  Mission of the company Coffee ad Cake is to run the family business so that the future generation of the owners can have the opportunity to continue the business and provide world’s best beverages like fresh roasted coffee, sacks like cake etc. The company focuses at excellent quality of their food product at reasonable price so that the customers at the locality can afford the organisational products. The business is committed to satisfying its stakeholders including the customers, employees, government and local communities as a whole by maintaining the quality of the products and efficiency of their services.

• Vision statement:

  The vision of the organisation Coffee and Cake is to be the best leader in the beverage market through continuous innovation, quality management and best service providers. The company aims at expanding their business through multi chain stores and making the business profitable.

  The organisation focuses at creating values for the customers mainly through maintaining integrity and honesty as well as providing excellent and quality products to the customers so that it is possible for them to meet the expectations of the customers and satisfy them in long run.

Evaluating strategic directions

It is necessary to develop strategic objective for the company Coffee and Cake and analyse the strategic option for the business so that it is possible for the firm to fulfil the mission and vision of the Coffee and Cake Ltd. The corporate strategic objectives for 3 years are such as,

To increase sales volume and profitability doubled as compared to the recent volume of sales and profitability of the firm Coffee and Cake and also to expand the business through store expansion across the country, diversity by offering other beverages, non diary products, fresh juice and soup on the go. Also digitalise the business for successful retention of the customers.

The above-mentioned strategic objectives are effective for the company Coffee and Cake to develop appropriate strategic planning so that the mission and vision of the company can be fulfilled. In order to develop the strategic options and planning, it is necessary to analyse the Ansoff matrix in order to evaluate the opportunities for the firm in near future. In this regard, the Ansoff matrix is beneficial for analysing and evaluating the future scope of the organisations through which the corporate firms can meet the pre-specified corporate objectives (Schramm-Klein, and Zentes et al 2019). As per the Ansoff matrix, there are four parts such as market penetration, market development, diversification and product development. These four factors are effective to analyse the suitability of the factor for a particular firm through which the corporate business can achieve the strategic objectives.

The Ansoff matrix is hereby beneficial to analyser the strategic option of the company Coffee and Cake and it can be evaluated that; the strategy of substantial growth is one of the bets strategic option for the firm Coffee and Cake through which the company can meet its strategic objectives as well as mission and vision of the company. Hereby, as per the Ansoff matrix, market development is the best option for the company Coffee and Cake, where the owners and the managers of the firm Coffee and Cake can maximise their values by improving their organisational operational activities through strategic development. Market development through substantial growth is therefore an effective strategic option by which the company Coffee and Cake can create values for their customers and also for the other stakeholders such as, employees, staff members, managers, government and overall social communities as a whole.

Appropriate growth platform and strategy

The strategic option for the firm Coffee and Cake is substantial growth through which the company can meet the above-mentioned corporate objective where the company needs to utilise their strengths and grab the market opportunities by developing effective strategic planning. The strategic option of substantial growth provides a scope to the firm Coffee and Cake to enhance their performance and secure future sustainable development through more investment, financing the business, improving operational activities by managing the suppliers and distribution network, managing human resource and strengthen marketing technique for successful digitalisation of the business. Substantial growth will provide a strategic path where the company needs to develop strategic planning through which the corporate objectives of store expansion, establishing the business by strengthening their customers base and increasing profitability and sales volume can be maximised (Lasserre, Davis et al., 2019).

Strategic management planning for Coffee and Cake

The strategic option substantial growth is necessary to be utilised by the company to meet the strategic objectives of the organisation which are to enhance profitability and sales volume as well as digitalisation of the business and expansion of the firm through successful store management and increasing the numbers of stores at the locality (Wood, Chong, 2019).

The strategic planning of the company Coffee and Cake is developed further

Finance:

Financing the business is necessary for the company Coffee and Cake through which they can invest more on the bakery machineries and coffee makers which is important for the business to increase their quality of the products and increase the volume of the product so that the customers can access and avail the products at the Coffee and Cake store. Moreover, investment on the technology such as Information and Communication Technology (ICT), mobile application and GPS which are effective for the company to manage their operational activities as well as enhance internal and external communication through ICT. Hereby, investment in the process and machineries will be helpful for the company through which the firm can increase their profitability volume by 30% within 3 years. As the strategic planning is for 3 years, the company can utilise the planning process for successful increment of the profit volume of the firm by 30% through more investment in the machineries and the process of the company.

Marketing:

Marketing is another strategic planning through which the company Coffee and Cake can meet the corporate objective of digitalisation of the business where the company needs to utilise social media marketing through developing effective content with pictures for Facebook posts as well as create short videos for uploading on YouTube. These strategic planning is beneficial for the firm Coffee and Cake for successful digitalisation of the business for successful promotion. In the recent era of globalisation and digitalisation, all the people around the globe prefer online activities and social media for getting updated through gathering more news and information about the organisational products and services (Salim et al., 2019). Hereby, social media is an effected platform for develop two-way communication between the representative of Coffee and Cake and the customers where the customers can identify the quality products of the company and the firm also can promote the products and services at the market for achieving substantial growth.

In addition to these, developing company’s own website with simple and adequate content as well as pictures of the food products available in the company would be another effective tactic for successful marketing through which the strategic objectives of the firm can be fulfilled in near future. Developing mobile application for the customers where the customers can place their orders by choosing the best quality products at affordable price as per their needs and preferences through one click option will provide an opportunity to build trust and loyalty among the customers and promote the organisational products successfully. Additionally, managing customer’s data online through cloud computing and sending personalise email about the offer and new products as well as best price to the customers will also beneficial for the company Coffee and Cake to strengthen their customer base and promote the products successfully at the market.

Human resource management:

Managing human resource through performance appraisals, providing good salary, giving the safety insurance, performance related pay, yearly bonus and other benefits are effective for retaining long term staff members at the stores of Coffee and Cake who can handle the organisational activities and serve the customers in a better and unique manner. It will also help the firm to enhance performance of the company and for measuring performance, the owners and managers of the stores need to monitor each staff and conduct meeting at the end of every week which encourage the creativity of the staff and motive them to work for contributing in achieving the organisational success.

Sales volume:

Increasing sales volume by 25% by 2 years will be possible or the company as it has the potential and strengthen of managing quality of the products and continuous improving of serving the customers in a unique manner will provide an opportunity to retain the customers and increase the sales volume of the firm Coffee and Cake. Building strong relationship with the customers through enhancing communication and improve trust and loyalty will also be helpful for the firm to retain them for long run. In this regard, investment on quality raw material for bakery production and coffee is helpful for the company to maintain the quality of their products and serve the customers for creating values for them.

Strengthening distribution network at the locality is necessary where the firm needs to build string relationship with the suppliers and the distributions for distributing the final products as per the market trend and customer’s demand. Online business activities should be developed by the firm where the suppliers and distributors can manage the orders of the customers on mobile application and company’s website and track the orders for delivering the food with safety and security at the right place within right time. Providing high incentives on investment and good salary to the suppliers will motivate the suppliers to contribute in achieving success through managing the operational activities of the firm.

Relating the chosen strategy with PESTLE, SWOT and Competitive analysis

Through understanding the PESTLE, SWOT and competitive analysis for the company Coffee and Cake Ltd, it is possible to implement the above chosen strategic planning so that the organisational representatives can acknowledge internal and external environment of conducting the business strategically. Brexit is considered as negative factors in expanding the business as there is lack of migrants and skilled labour and foreign investment after Brexit which affect negatively to the business activities of the Coffee and Cake. Stable economic condition and increasing national income may contribute positively to the business of the Coffee and Cake and as per the social factors, there is changing life style and attitude pf the people across the UK and the company target to expand their business through store expansion for retaining the loyal and potential buyers in the UK. More reliance on the technological advancement makes the company successful where all the managers try to utilise the upgraded technology for making the business digital and staying connected with all the customers. There is no online presence of the company Coffee and Cake and in this regard the strategy of marketing and digitalisation of the business will provide an opportunity to the company to run their business activities efficiently.

The customers are using their smartphones for dealing with the organisational representatives directly and place orders as per their preferences and it further provides a scope to the company Coffee and Cake to make the business digitalise for successful growth strategy through expansion. The expansion strategy is effective as the environmental rules, the Just-In-Tine and Lean production technique provides a scope to run the business activities efficiently and legally. Through maintaining the legal rules including Equality Act2010, GDPR 2018, Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (HASAWA) and the Food Hygiene (England) 2006, the company can implement the growth strategy by improving financial investment, developing marketing strategy and managing the human resource at the workplace of the company Coffee and Cake.

On the other hand, the SWOT analysis is also effective to identify the strengths and weakness of the company as well as acknowledge the opportunities and threats of the company, which are required for the organisational representatives to develop and implement the strategic planning for achieving success. Strong management team and the location of the coffee shop increases the competitive advantage over other competitors at the market and this further provides a scope to the company to implement the strategy of growth through expansion of the business digitally or raising the numbers of stores. Additionally, the opportunities of the company are prime shopping areas, high property values and Signing up with Apps such as Just Eat and Uber Eats, and these are also effective for the organisation to expand their business through investment, marketing and managing the staff members. Hereby, through PESTLE and SWOT analysis, it is possible to understand that, the company has the opportunity to run the business efficiently and implement the chosen strategy expansion of the business through financing, store expansion, digitalisation of the business, marketing, human resource management and strengthening the distribution network.

Conclusion

The report can be concluded that, the strategic planning for the company Coffee and Cake will be beneficial for the business to meet the above mentioned corporate objective where the company can utilise the strategic option of sustainable growth and develop appropriate planning for expansion the business through store expansion and digitalisation of the business and establish the brand with high profitability and sales volume which in turn provide an opportunity to the firm to gain high market share and competitive advantage at the market. The strategic planning is effective for the firm Coffee and Cake to achieve the target benchmark within 3 years for successful establishment of the business through strengthening customer’s base, enhancing market communication, building trust and loyalty, managing quality products, managing human resource and financing through investment that will provide an opportunity to Coffee and Cake to achieve substantial growth in near future.

Recommendations

The recommendations for the firm Coffee and Cake are such as,

Developing simple and informative content for Facebook posts and company’s website so that the customers can understand, and access the right products according to their needs and preferences.

Creating short video clips for uploading in the YouTube for retaining the customers where the videos provide appropriate information about the company, quality of the products, product variety, services and pricing of the product to the customers which will help the consumers to make effective purchase planning.

Sending personalise email to the customers for building trust and loyalty.

Enhancing communication through implementing ICT and gathering feedback through online communication by company website, Facebook and mobile application which will help the representative of Coffee and Cake to gain ides about the preferences of the customers that in turn helps the firm to improve their service quality.

Expansion of the business through opening new stores and appoint long term employees and staff is necessary for fulfilling the corporate objectives of enhancing profitability and sales volume.

Reference List

• Chong, S., 2014. Business process management for SMEs: an exploratory study of implementation factors for the Australian wine industry. Journal of Information Systems and Small Business, 1(1-2), pp.41-58.
• Davis, B., Lockwood, A., Alcott, P. and Pantelidis, I.S., 2018. Food and beverage management. London: Routledge.
• Doz, Y.L., 2017. Strategic management in multinational companies. In International Business (pp. 229-248). London: Routledge.
• Hill, C.W., Jones, G.R. and Schilling, M.A., 2014. Strategic management: theory: an integrated approach. Boston: Cengage Learning.
• Lasserre, P., 2017. Global strategic management. London: Macmillan International Higher Education.
• Meyer, G.D., Neck, H.M. and Meeks, M.D., 2017. The entrepreneurship‐strategic management interface. Strategic entrepreneurship: Creating a new mindset, pp.17-44.
• Morschett, D., Schramm-Klein, H. and Zentes, J., 2015. Strategic international management (pp. 978-3658078836). London: Springer.
• Salim, H.K., Padfield, R., Yuzir, A., Mohamad, S.E., Kaida, N., Papargyropoulou, E. and Nakamura, S., 2018. Evaluating the organizational intention to implement an Environmental Management System: evidence from the Indonesian food and beverage industry. Business Strategy and the Environment, 27(8), pp.1385-1398.
• Wheelen, T.L., Hunger, J.D., Hoffman, A.N. and Bamford, C.E., 2017. Strategic management and business policy. London: Pearson.
• Wood, R.C., 2018. Strategic questions in food and beverage management. London: Routledge.